These Games We Play
by twillandbonnie
Summary: Lily Luna Potter likes to play matchmaker for her cousins, no use denying it. She usually succeeds, too, but now her cousins have decided it's their turn to play. Thank Merlin Lysander provides something that resembles sanity in her life. NextGen.
1. There's No Firewhiskey for Minors

Lily watched her cousin Rose and her almost boyfriend, Scorpius Malfoy, walk side by side to Honeydukes with smiles on their face. Rose had his Slytherin scarf wrapped tightly around her neck in the cold November air. Lily grinned to herself, ducking her head down slightly to hide it. The two seventh years were perfect for each other, and it would be thanks to her and a little bit of meddling that the two would one day get married.

It was her 'gift' as she called it; she was just naturally able to spot couples in people who hated each other, loved each other, or didn't even know each other. She couldn't just _not _act on it. With a little meddling, a few arguments with at least one of the people involved, and lots of ingenuity, the couple would make thank her for bringing them together. It was really nice that she was doing this really, all out of the kindness of her heart, too.

She ducked into the Three Broomsticks to avoid Rosie and Scorpius' notice. She rubbed her hands together and thanked Merlin that she had remembered to wear her bright green Weasley jumper as she shivered.

"Firewhiskey, please," Lily requested with a bright smile.

Madam Rosmerta raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. "You know I can't give you that until you're of age, Potter," she said with an amused look.

"I bet I could convince Aberforth to let me have a glass," she replied, handing her the coins for the tall glass of Butterbeer.

Madam Rosmerta rolled her eyes and took the money. "I'm sure you could."

Lily nodded and sipped the warm drink, wiping it away from her upper lip when Lysander Scamander sat down next to her.

"Hey, Lily," he greeted her.

Lily grinned at him and tucked her hair behind her ear. "'Lo," she said to her sandy haired friend. He was practically family as much as he hung around. Besides, their parents were good friends with his mum. She was named after his mum for Merlin sakes. She set down her glass and rested her elbows on the counter.

He took her drink, sipping it with his bright blue eyes crossed. She swatted him playfully as he laughed loudly. She couldn't help herself and laughed along, her head thrown back. He set her drink back down on the counter. "It's been ages since I've seen you," he said dramatically.

"It's been less than a day! I saw you yesterday," she said between laughs.

He sighed, "But it seems like we've been apart for forever."

"Blimey, I guess it has been a while. I had already forgotten what an idiot you are," she said with an innocent look.

He placed a hand to his heart in mock offense. "Lils, I'm insulted. I am most certainly not an idiot. That's you, Gryffindork," he said, tweaking her nose at the end.

She snapped her teeth at his finger, her eyes crossing as she looked at her nose. "You're so mean for someone who's supposed to be my friend," she told him.

"Best friend," he corrected with a casual grin. "And I'm not mean; I'm honest."

Lily began to stand up slowly. "Hmph, if you want to be that way I guess I'll just leave," she said with her arms crossed.

"Wait! M'flower, don't leave me," he cried loudly, getting some looks from around the pub. He grabbed her hand and sat her back down on the barstool not so gently. He looked around the place and yelled, "Take a picture; it lasts longer." To Lily's amusement and shock, one second year got out a camera and did just that.

Lily went to stand up again. "I have to leave anyway. I have places to go and people to see," she said loftily. "And don't call me your flower," she added as an afterthought.

"But, m'flower," Lysander said in a whiny voice but with a large smile on his face.

"I have work to do," she replied, rolling her eyes with an amused smirk.

"Sure you do," he said. "Work that is more important than your best friend.""

"Yes, it is," she told him before sighing, "Fine, come with me, you git."

He hopped up from his seat and grinned brightly, "Oh, you're the best, Lilsy."

She chuckled and walked with him into the cold, winter air, trying to burrow deeper into her wooly jumper, tightening her Gryffindor scarf. She stood out in the snowy surrounding with her flame red hair. He had his hands stuffed into his pockets and was wearing a dark grey jumper with a light blue scarf with strange little creatures stitched into it.

"So what are we doing?" he asked curiously.

She muttered back, "We're watching Rose and Scorpius."

"Ah," he said. "Your newest project."

Lily nodded. "Mmhm," she hummed, scanning the crowds for the pointy faced blonde and the frizzy haired ginger. "Found them," she whispered to him, nodding towards the laughing pair of seventh years.

They stood there in silence, trying to watch without being seen before Lysander asked, "Are we just going to watch them like creepy stalkers?"

"Basically," she said, brushing her hair from her eyes.

He rocked on his feet impatiently, looking to his freckled friend, his blue eyes staring at the sky. "Can we, I don't know, do something?" he asked her.

"No, we just observe and stay quiet," she said. "See, he's about to take her hand," she said right before Scorpius did just that. "And he's leaning in for the kiss," she continued excitedly as he leaned in towards her cousin before pulling away. Disappointment showed on her face and she said sadly, "But he doesn't have the guts."

Lysander laughed loudly at the look on her face. "Well, he wasn't in Gryffindor for a reason, you know."

The loud laugh was what did it. Rose heard Lysander's statement and looked over at the two friends. Her face turned as red as her hair, starting from the tips of her ears and spreading down to her neck. "Lily Luna Potter, what the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" she screeched at her younger cousin.

Lily's eyes turned wide in panic and she said more confidently than she felt, "What _would _your mum say if she heard how you're talking?"

"You little shit!" Rose said, not even responding to the rhetorical question.

Lysander watched, caught between defending Lily and agreeing with Rose that Lily shouldn't have meddled. She had done an all right job at not getting caught so far. Rose had suspected, he was sure, but she didn't have proof. Lily watching her and Scorpius from afar was proof enough though.

"How many _times _have I told you to leave me alone, to leave my love life alone?" she demanded, walking forward.

Lily took a step backwards as her cousin advanced on her, grabbing Lysander's arm to drag him with her. He stumbled back as her hand clutched his forearm. Her nails had started to dig into his arm, and he winced but remained quiet about it.

"Rosie, Rosie, Rosie," Lily laughed nervously as Scorpius watched on with a small smirk.

Rose had caught up to the retreating pair and jabbed her finger into Lily's chest. "You." She jabbed her. "Are." And again. "Going." Once more. "To." Ouch, it actually did hurt. "Regret." Not likely. "This."

Lily flashed her a grin, walking backwards. "I'm sure I will, Rosie, but I must be going now. Places to go, people to see," she said, dragging Lysander around like a ragdoll as she turned around to leave. "Come on, Lysander," she said before she escaped her cousin's wrath at least for a moment.


	2. How Do We Get Revenge

"Why'd you want us here, Rosie, Rosie, pocket full of posies?" Roxanne asked, sitting with her chair leaned back. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her blue eyes were sparkling. She had a wide grin stretching across her face as the group of cousins sat in a circle, gathered together by Rose and brought to the Room of Requirement with minimum explanation.

"Revenge," Rose answered simply, ignoring the hated nickname given to her by her 14 year old cousin and took to adjusting her blue and bronze tie.

Dominique got a wicked grin on her face and asked excitedly, "Who are we getting revenge on?"

Lucy rolled her eyes from where she sat by her older sister, Molly, who had begun to scold, "Rose, you are _Head Girl_! You can't possibly display this sort of behavior. What will the younger children think? What would the older children think? You are being completely…" But her words were ignored by the rest.

"Lily," Rose answered. "She should be glad I'm not skinning her alive, meddling where she shouldn't, sticking her nose where it doesn't belong…"

Lucy, the youngest of the bunch at only 13, was inspecting her nails as she drawled, "Playing matchmaker again, is she? You and Scorpius? I must say, the boy is smitten as it is. Lily isn't trying anything that is too far out of reach." She had a smirk playing on her lips and an amused twinkle in her eyes.

"Shut up," Rose snarled back to her petite, brunette cousin. Her cheeks were bright pink and beginning to turn as red as her hair.

"Oh, Rosie, you don't want to date Scorpy?" Roxanne teased, wagging her finger at her aforementioned cousin.

Rose sniffed, "We are just friends."

Dominique said sarcastically, "Sure, _just friends_." She laughed and said cheerfully, "So, for revenge, what do you have in mind?"

Rose's haughty appearance faltered and she admitted, slightly sheepish, "Well, I'm not quite sure."

"Give her a taste of her own medicine," Lucy said slowly with a crooked smile. "Lily might like to play matchmaker, but I think it's _our _turn to play."

* * *

Lily was sitting by the Black lake with her legs crossed and a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Lysander was lying on his stomach beside her, and his twin Lorcan was seated close to the lake's water with his fingertips twirling the grass.

Lily tossed a bright red jellybean into Lysander's open mouth with a grin and asked loudly, "What flavor is it?"

Lysander caught it in his mouth and swallowed it with a pleased smile. "Watermelon. Lor, stop being such a loner and converse with us!" he cried towards his brother.

Lorcan rolled his eyes at Lysander. "Idiot," he muttered though he had an amused smile.

"See!" Lily yelled triumphantly. "You are an idiot! Lorcan agrees. High-five, Lorry," she said, holding a hand up for him to high-five her.

He lightly high-fived her and said, "My name is not Lorry for the last time, Lillian."

"Lillian is a longer form of Lily, but my full name _is _Lily. Therefore, it doesn't make sense! However, Lorry is a nickname for Lorcan, so I win," she declared with a large grin, tossing a bean in her mouth. She wrinkled her nose, spitting the jellybean out, "Ugh, I think it might have been vomit."

Lysander laughed at her twisted up face and said, "That's what ya get for being mean to your best friend."

She shot back, "Not mean, honest, isn't that what you told me?"

"It is," Lysander confirmed, rolling around onto his back. He was no longer wearing his soft jumper and shivered.

She hit his head hardly as she cast a warming charm. "This is why you should wear your jumper," she said in a sing song voice.

He winced as her wand hit him and scowled up at her, "I could do without you hitting me in the process of saving me from hypothermia."

"What's hypothermia?" she asked, ignoring the first part of what he said.

"Some disease you get from being cold," he answered her.

Lorcan spoke up with a roll of his eyes, "And you don't need to know about hypothermia to pass your O.W.L.s."

"I will do brilliantly on my O.W.L.s," Lily said with a cocky grin. "Brilliant I say!"

"We have to study hard if we want to pass!" Lorcan argued, reviewing over his History of Magic notes.

"History of Magic is useless," Lysander said, plucking the book away from the studious boy. "Why study it?"

Lorcan snatched the book back, scowling. "History of Magic is important. It teaches us about mistakes and struggles of those in the past, so that we can provide ourselves and future generations with better lives," he said like a child reciting in a school performance.

"Isn't that what Divination is for? To prevent mistakes, tell the future, etc…?" Lily asked with a broad grin, taking his notes away from him again and tossing it to Lysander.

"Give my notes back," Lorcan snapped, trying to intimidate Lily and Lysander but only made their amusement grow.

"Fine," Lysander laughed, tossing it to him. It fell in the grass, and Lorcan picked it up and started dusting the dirt off.

Lily smiled innocently at the grumbling Lorcan as he went to walk away. "Bye, Lorry!" she called after him, expecting it to, like usual, be just her and Lysander.

But as Lorcan walked away, a short figure came walking up to the lake. A curly head appeared and she recognized it as her cousin Lucy. She was moving swiftly as if on a mission.

"Lily," she greeted with an uncharacteristically bright smile. "Johnathon Wood has been looking _everywhere _for you!"

**AN: Thank you so much for reading! I am going to try to write a lot of chapters soon so that I can update weekly. I'll be at an advanced college summer camp Psych course thing for most of June, so it'll be hard for me to write. Please review and give any suggestions you'd like. I made an Excel chart with every Weasley/Potter/Scamander/Malfoy kid's age and Hogwarts house. If you'd like for me to post the information, tell me. **


	3. Excellent Outcome, Wasn't it?

Lily arched an eyebrow and didn't bother to hide the irritation in her voice. "Wood?" she asked, her lips in a thin line. "Tell him that if he wants me to find me himself, not send my little cousin to get me. Besides, I'm _busy_."

"You aren't busy," Lucy argued calmly. "You aren't even doing anything."

"Yes, I am," Lily contradicted. "I am hanging out with Lysander."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Lysander won't mind. Johnathon wants to see you _now_."

Lysander frowned at Lucy. "Who says I won't mind?" he asked before changing his answer quickly with a forced casual grin at the smaller girl's glare, "I don't mind, Lils."

"Well, I don't want to go," Lily said stubbornly. "And you can tell him I said so," she directed the last statement towards Lucy.

Lucy sighed impatiently and went to tug Lily up by the wrist. "You're going," she informed her. "Whether you like it or not, so get up."

Lily was brought up part way by Lucy but not far, one of the many benefits of being taller, bigger, and older than Lucy. "I am not going," she told her, sounding like a whining child who didn't want to go to bed.

"I'll hex you," Lucy threatened, pulling her wand out.

Lily smiled in a sickly sweet way at her cousin. "Go ahead then."

Lucy frowned briefly before smiling back smugly. "I'll hex _Lysander_," she amended, pointing her wand tip at the innocent boy.

Lily glared at her again. "Luce, aren't you supposed to be my cousin, my kind and caring cousin who doesn't force me into seeing people I'm not fond of?" she asked.

"No," Lucy said shortly. "Being kind and caring is overrated. You're coming."

Lysander suggested cheerfully to Lily, "Why don't you just go and see what Wood wants you for?"

Lucy looked at Lily. "Listen to Scamander, would you?"

Lily seemed to consider this seriously but replied sharply, "No, I'm far too busy. Places to go, people to see, tell him that if you must, but I am _not _going."

Lysander told Lily gently, "Just go, Lils. She won't stop bugging you if you don't. Please?"

Lily pressed her lips into a tight line, stubborn as ever, but stayed silent before muttering with a slightly dark tone to her voice, "Fine, I'll bloody go."

Lucy smirked smugly. "It's about time you came to your senses."

"Watch it," Lily said with a halfhearted glare, walking briskly towards the castle.

Lucy ran ahead to guide her to where Johnathon Wood would be waiting for her, oblivious as Lily herself as to what her _darling _cousins were planning.

Lily's bad mood seemed to slowly disappear as the time and distance increased. The small gleam to her eyes that was usually there hinted at returning.

Lucy guided the older girl to the far corner of the library, beside the books that no one touched let alone read. Dust lingered in the air and a musty smell hit them like a brick wall. Lily sneezed as the dust flew around her in swirls.

"Bless you," came the voice of a burly sixth year. He was one year ahead of her but was in Gryffindor house as well. He played Keeper and was captain of the team just like his father before him. Though Johnathon lacked the fanatical enthusiasm Oliver had, he was more than dedicated to the game. He was even wearing his red and gold jersey as he flipped lazily through a book.

"Thank you," Lily said politely.

"Well, I'll just leave you two," Lucy said, walking away and leaving before Lily could protest.

Lily watched her retreating figure leave through the West Door and sighed.

"So do you like Quidditch?" Wood asked her, trying to break the icy waters.

Lily nodded and hummed in conferment before saying, "I do, I was thinking about trying at for the team this year as Chaser."

"Really?" he asked with a strangely happy look on his face.

She nodded and said, "Yeah, might not though."

"Of course," he agreed instantly.

She made another humming noise in acknowledgement.

"What's your favorite class?" he asked, trying to engage her in conversation.

"I like Transfiguration. It's easier than most, at least for me. I like Ancient Runes, and I was thinking about getting a N.E.W.T. in the course to become a cursebreaker," she said, now getting into a topic at least somewhat.

"Curebreaker?" he questioned and noted, "Odd choice of job."

"I'm not sure of course," she said quickly. "It's liable to change. I considered becoming a dragon tamer like my Uncle Charlie, but I didn't take Care of Magical Creatures. My Uncle Bill used to be a cursebreaker in Egypt, but he moved to a desk job at England's Gringotts branch during the beginning of the war. I've also considered becoming an Auror like my dad. I'm really just not sure, something exciting though."

"If your job is half as exciting as you, I'm sure it'll be thrilling," he tried to say charmingly but smile came out toothy and his dark, mysterious look looked like he was sick.

"Ah," was all she had to say. Her previous spark in conversation was no longer so bright.

He grinned, thinking that that was her way of saying, 'Oh, Merlin, I want to marry you,' or something of the sort.

"I'm glad I got to see you," he said cheerfully. "I was wondering… would you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?"

Lily smiled a smile that was more apologetic than her. "Sorry, I can't. I have plans with a friend. I always spend Hogsmeade with Lysander," she lied.

This was only a half-lie truly. She did always end up spending at least a portion of the Hogsmeade weekend with Lysander. They had nothing planned for the upcoming weekend, but she was sure something would come up.

"Oh, Scamander? The one in Ravenclaw?" he asked, trying to hide a frown.

She nodded with a smile. "That's him."

"Oh, well maybe after whatever you're doing is done?'

"Perhaps," she said with a shrug.

His bright smile returned. "So, what did you need to see me for anyway?"

This had caught her attention. What did _she _need to see _him _for? "I thought you needed to see me," she said, her words coming out sharper than she had intended.

"No," he said slowly. "Your cousin Roxanne said you needed to see me as soon as possible."

She muttered under her breath, "Those little prats." She called out to seemingly no one, "If you're going to try to set me up, at least be subtle about it!"

"Who are you talking to, Lils?" Wood asked in a gentle voice.

At the moment, Lily was not in the mood for gentle. "Don't call me Lils!"

"Sorry, who are you talking to, Lily?"

"My bloody cousins," she said, standing up. "You can come out now! Your little attempt at revenge failed, Rose! I know what you're doing!"

"There's no one here besides us," he said.

"Of course there is. They're probably spying on us right now."

"Potter, will you stop being ridiculous?"

She huffed and crossed her arms. Maybe she was overreacting a _tiny _bit. After all, she set people up all the time. She was just far better at it than them. "I'm leaving. Have a good day, Wood," she said, gathering up her things to leave.

"Wait," he tried to say, but alas, she was already walking away.

* * *

As this unfolded, her prat cousins were in fact watching from afar.

"Well, that failed, didn't it?" asked Lucy as she watched the redhead leave the library.

Rose nodded and said, "Yes, but we'll just keep on."

"It won't work now that she knows we're behind all of it," Dominique put in her opinion.

Rose replied, "I don't care if it works or not. If it works, that's just a bonus."

Roxanne sighed dramatically, "Why don't you just prank her or something?"

Rose crossed her arms, "We're continuing, end of story."

* * *

**AN: I hope you liked it. I couldn't get the chapter to turn out exactly right. I am leaving for a month to do a psychology course on the 8th. Between then and June 28th, I'm not sure if I'll be updating much or at all. Reviews are loved. Criticism is welcome. I plan on going through and editing some of the chapters for typos, etc. I typically don't proofread very well, and my fingers don't keep up with my brain when I'm writing.**

**Love you guys!**

**QOTC: Do you have any ideas of how or with who Lily should be set up with by her ****_darling _****cousins?**

**OQOTC: Who has read The Fault in Our Stars? I love the book and am going to see the movie this Friday.**

_**Time is such a slut; it screws everyone.**_


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